Being necessary

I've been practicing concentration and focus this month. It's amazing how quickly our brains become accustomed to scrolling and skimming information. Especially when our emotions are heightened. Or what we are consuming is distressing.

So I have been intentionally setting aside time to read slowly, to keep bringing my thoughts back when they wander, to integrate information and feelings, and to form my own opinions and moral truths.

Often I need to limit this concentrated time to an hour or less. And I need even more space between to just be quiet and rest. I wonder why this rest is still so hard to justify and value?

What keeps surfacing in my mind is how important it is for us to be necessary in the world. For our actions to mean something, to sustain something, to have a lasting legacy for more than just ourselves.

In our capitalist society there is a strong message that this sense of purpose comes from a career, from making money and being productive. But for most of us that is not where we feel the most necessary.

Some of the necessary (and soul fulfilling) moments I've observed in myself and others lately are: 

• soothing a baby to sleep
• being the one that listens and debriefs the day with someone
• picking up rubbish from the the gutter
• making a meal for yourself and/or loved ones
• feeding pets/tending plants
• pausing to talk to someone in your neighbourhood

When the world feels catastrophic, can you remember how necessary you are? Can you remember that you are enough? And that living a right-sized life is just as valuable as a big one.

Watching my daughter celebrate her birthday this month helped this message sink in. The joy of being 8 years old! She knows deep in her being how necessary she is.

With love,

Emily